


The Tempest

by Maurey



Category: Bleach
Genre: Emotional Exposition, Getting Together, Ichigo is a loveable dork, Kisuke is of Russian Descent, M/M, References to Shakespeare, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, demisexual!Ichigo, vague references to anxiety and adult sexy times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 05:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15454797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maurey/pseuds/Maurey
Summary: In which Ichigo has his brain fried by Kisuke, has a sexual awakening, and slightly breaks Kisuke in turn.Kisuke is so immeasurably, indescribably fond. Both of his little berry, and, strangely, Shakespeare.





	The Tempest

**Author's Note:**

> So guess who got back into Bleach and jumped headlong into a new pairing? :D I just love these two dorks together, they're precious. There's not a whole lot of substance here, just lots of fluff and squish, but I _am_ getting the hang of writing these two. Slowly. I totally headcanon Kisuke as having been Russian or part Russian before he died, haha. Partially because his features do fit, partially because I call him Kisa in my head, and Ichigo wanted in, too. 'Kisa' is Russian for 'kitty', and I find it doubly amusing because, well, Yoruichi. I bet she gets a kick out of it, too, the first time she hears Ichigo call Kisuke Kisa.
> 
> Big thanks to [Adain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketTherapist/pseuds/Lady%20Adain) for having a proofread of this and giving me more ideas before I posted it. They have some utterly awesome UraIchi content, themselves, so go give their fics a read if you haven't yet!

It had been a fairly typical afternoon for Ichigo at the Shouten, his long-established biweekly sparring session with Kisuke followed by tea ( _ made by Ichigo, as Tessai was out; there had been an unspoken agreement to not allow Kisuke into the kitchen for a long time, now. After becoming familiar with the scientist’s exploits and mishaps within his labs, the redhead really didn’t want to know, in all honesty… Who was he kidding? He’d love to know, if only to have something to tease the man about that might actually get a reaction out of him. Ichigo couldn’t deny seeing the man pouting, or, better yet, flustered, was adorable _ ). 

 

The two of them had long retired into Kisuke’s underground labs, the aforementioned man busy finalising a project that, to the surprise of both of them, Ichigo had been able to assist him with, even with yet-limited knowledge of Kidō and Reiatsu theory. Granted, it was mostly a case of Kisuke having looked too closely at the issue at hand for too long, and missing the obvious, but that hardly mattered, really. Especially to Ichigo — after all, ever since that day, just over a week ago, Ichigo hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Kisuke. 

 

The  _ look _ the man had given him when something seemingly uncharacteristically intelligent came from Ichigo’s mouth had the teenager’s jaw hanging loosely as his brain had a brief meltdown. Fortunately for him, the intense, almost _ hungry  _ look quickly melted away to the more familiar, less incapacitating determined glint. This was the look that Kisuke always had before descending into work with a single-minded determination, unlikely to emerge for many hours, until his project was complete. That meant that Kisuke was unlikely to be paying much attention to anything but his own thoughts. Ichigo had been fairly certain, and relieved to note, that the older man had missed the look on his face, as well as the atypical flush of his ears that also dusted his cheekbones and nose. ( _ Looking back at this moment scant days later, some part of him really wished Kisuke had picked up on it, done something about it. Mustering up the resolve to actually say something to the man was unexpectedly difficult, and was starting to take longer than his pride could endure. _ )

 

Since then, Ichigo had had a chance to really process and assimilate what had happened, and he was accepting and oddly resigned to what had happened. Unlike most people his age, he’d never really had any invested interest in other people in a romantic or sexual sense, until recently, of course. While he’d had his…  _ hormonal moments _ in the past, he’d never felt the pull towards other people that teenagers in the prime of puberty tended to go through. Until Kisuke. He’d been… peripherally aware of his growing attachment to Kisuke for some time now, but it wasn’t until  _ that look _ that it really hit him. He was  _ interested. _ In  _ Kisuke. _ He was  _ attracted _ to  _ Kisuke _ . 

 

It wasn’t so much the man himself that caught him up on the entire prospect, nor was it the fact that it was a man — it simply took Ichigo a while to process that he had those type of desires, in the first place. They weren’t bad, or particularly unwelcome, just  _ foreign. _

 

Once the young man had really internalised what had happened, he came to the decision to talk to Kisuke about it ( _ it was easier said than done, really … Ichigo had been trying to work up the guts to actually follow through with his words for days now. This had been his third day at the Shouten since his realisation, and he’d yet to go through with it).  _ That brought them to the current moment. Kisuke was working with single-minded vigour on the final details of his latest project, while Ichigo was stretched out on the couch in the corner, his well-loved copy of  **_The Tempest_ ** resting on his knees. Ichigo restlessly worried his lip, unfamiliar anxiety bubbling in his chest as he re-read the passage for what must have been the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes. 

 

_ *         _*          *_ _

 

_ ‘O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound _

_ And crown what I profess with kind event _

_ If I speak true! If hollowly, invert _

_ What best is boded me to mischief! I _

_ Beyond all limit of what else i’ th’ world _

_ Do love, prize, honour you.’ _

 

_ *         _*          *_ _

He knew he should just get it over with, just blurt it out, if that’s what it took ( _he wasn’t about to use Shakespeare quotes to express himself, not again. A couple years ago, he’d had a habit of blurting out passages instead of formulating responses himself whenever he was particularly antsy or anxious. While it had likely been better than what he, himself, could have come up with on the spot, it was a somewhat embarrassing tic he was relieved to be mostly over. Kisuke would find out about this fact later, and get the most impossibly fond look on his face as he’d kiss Ichigo’s temple. But that wouldn’t happen for a little while yet)._ It wouldn’t be the first time a Shakespeare passage spurred him on to do something. Every time he worked up the nerve and the words formed on the tip of his tongue, however, he’d either talk himself out of it, or something would come up, and ruin the intimate mood.

 

Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it all out in a sharp exhale.  _ Right, this is getting ridiculous, _ he thought in nervous irritation, rubbing the back of his head with a faintly-trembling hand,  _ I’ve faced a war, I’ve been through far worse things. The worst that can happen is that he’ll say ‘no’… While it won’t be great to hear, I’ll at least have gotten off my chest, and I can move past it… I can’t believe Kisuke hasn’t noticed how off I’ve been lately… I should just —  _

“Na, Kisuke? Would — Would you like to go out sometime?” Ichigo finally blurted out,  wincing slightly at the crack in his voice. 

 

Kisuke was broken out of his science-induced reverie by the seeming non-sequitur, barely managing to catch the delicate tool he’d dropped before it could clatter to the floor, and made a noise Ichigo couldn’t quite put a suitable descriptor to before turning to face him. Ichigo would’ve appreciated the wide look of surprise in those beautiful steel blue eyes of his as he licked his lower lip, seemingly completely taken for a loop, had he not been rather flustered himself, just then. Just as Ichigo was about to start nervously fidgeting with his hands at the lack of response, the scientist finally mumbled, still trying to shift gears - “I… you… me… date…?”. Kisuke took a moment, blinked, made himself breathe before really  _ looking _ at Ichigo, in the same way that had  _ started _ this entire thing. A strangely appealing little smirk played on his lips as he really  _ noticed _ the effect it had on Ichigo, making his faintly flushed cheekbones and ears  _ burn _ ,

“Maaaa, Ichigo, I’d love to. How does Thursday afternoon sound? My treat, just make sure you’re here by two”, Kisuke  _ purred. _

_ *         _*          *_ _

 

Years later, the Quincy War long-fought and buried, yet never forgotten, Ichigo and Kisuke had a peaceful silver anniversary, spending their evening just  _ being _ together. They’d had a lovely day out, a large part of it with their patchwork family that had grown together ever since that fateful day Ichigo and Rukia had met, so many years ago. The evening, though, as always, was just  _ theirs. _ After all, it was how  _ this _ , this immeasurably special _ thing _ (that Kisuke was still uncertain he deserved after all he had or hadn’t done in his life) had started ( _ A fact that riled Ichigo up like nothing else — ‘I love  _ **_you_ ** _ , goddammit. It’s not about  _ **_worth_ ** _. Even if it were, there’s no one more worthy for me than  _ **_you._ ** _ Stop blaming yourself for what you did back then, please).  _ They spent their evening reminiscing on their time together, Kisuke becoming more and more inexplicably  _ fond _ of his chosen life mate as time passed, thoughts of their relationship milestones making him smile and his very soul  _ sing. _ He recollects the shy and sweet time of Ichigo’s confession, their first date, their first time together, with Ichigo still so inexperienced. Kisuke is particularly fond of the memory of when Ichigo learned of his heritage and started to learn Russian (which he had picked up surprisingly quickly), starting to call him  _ Kisa,  _ kitty, scant weeks later. He thought back to Ichigo’s ridiculously thoughtful proposal twenty years ago now that  _ still _ made him so very happy and loved to think back on, serenaded with Shakespeare by candlelight before Ichigo got on one knee, a faint flush on his face. He thought back to the time they had first bought their current home, of them acquiring more strays over the years, both figurative and literal, and their more recent thoughts of adopting a child. Ichigo had always been fond of children, and, while Kisuke took a while to really get used to being around them, to being nurturing, he took to it in time, as well.

 

“Kisa? Are you all right? You were miles away for a moment there,” Ichigo questioned with a tender smile, bringing Kisuke out of his thoughts.

 

“Maaa… You know, Ichigo, I’ve grown very fond of Shakespeare over the years,” he teased, his eyes filled with a mixture of mirth and lust as he recalled some of the... less sweet (yet equally desirable) things Ichigo’s reading had  _ motivated _ him to seek out over the years. Ichigo softly rolled his eyes at the familiar leer, apparent exasperation belied by the blush that Kisuke could still put on his face even all these years later and rolled over on their bed to turn off the light.

  
  



End file.
